


Mortis Rising

by SilverDancers



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Dark Leia Organa, Mortis (Star Wars), Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-22
Updated: 2017-03-19
Packaged: 2018-08-23 23:15:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8346628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverDancers/pseuds/SilverDancers
Summary: Darth Vader paced across the edge of the training yard, his eyes flashing between the sparring partners, green clashing against red. The Force exerted its will on the Galaxy when Skywalker fell. The Jedi Masters of old had been too blinded by their dogma to see it, yet the Force knew. Mortis had proclaimed it. Balance was dark and light, and after he had spent as many years in darkness as he had in the light, The Father found them. His children. Balance.





	1. The Daughter

**Author's Note:**

> This fic has been plaguing me since May. What would the galaxy look like if Darth Vader brought balance to the Force, not through his own will, but through his children- Leia, dark, and Luke, light.  
> You don't need to know the Mortis Arc from the Clone Wars to understand this story, only that Anakin Skywalker ended up on a Force-filled planet, where The Father lived with his children, the Son (the dark side of the Force) and the Daughter (the light side of the Force). Anakin proved that he could control them both, though not enough for disaster to strike. 
> 
> This story acts as if Mortis was not just a test of him being the Chosen One, but also a vision of his Fate as The Father. Now, he is different, stronger, familiar with both dark and light. He is ready.

 

The first time he saw Leia, she was seven years old, walking the halls of the Senate next to Bail Organa. She burned in the Force, drawing people to her, using it in the subtle unskilled way typical of children. Vader had long known Bail and Breha Organa. They were accomplished rulers and well known thorns in the Empire’s side, but they were blind to the Force. There was no way they could have recognized the ember they were carrying with them, but they remained careful, planning their daughter’s trips to the Imperial Capital only with the Emperor’s absence. Even at a young age, her stride was clipped and unrepentant. Vader found the girl fascinating, but let her be. There was little point in further antagonizing the Alderaanians unless the Emperor asked it of him. The Force pulled at him, but he ignored it- he had much more important things to do than chase a child.

It wasn’t until her thirteenth birthday that he met her face to face. She appeared on the doorstep of his Coruscanti Compound, demanding to know exactly what her parents were so afraid of. If Vader was honest with himself, he would have considered himself speechless in that moment. The girl had no sense of self-preservation, that was for certain, but the defiant tilt of her chin and the glint in her eyes caught him off guard. He had never been so close to the girl before. Once he had, he knew he needed to be near her, like a moth needed to be near a flame. The Force had only grown stronger in her. It was no longer the hidden burn of an ember, but a brilliant shine, not dissimilar from his own.

“Let me show you,” He rasped through his mask. “There is power in the Dark Side.”

She looked less than impressed. “Most call your religion archaic.”

Vader breathed slowly. “You test me, girl. Do not underestimate your own potential.”

Her eyes widened, but she admirably suppressed it, carefully masking her surprise with caution. “I’m not sure I understand.”

His cape swished behind him as he rapidly turned. He had no time for the child’s nonsense. He could feel fear in her, but if she would not admit it, there was nothing he could do.

He certainly did not expect the girl to push aside the protocol droid manning the door and follow him in.

“I have it.” She abruptly said, making Vader stop. “I don’t know what it is, but I have it.”

Vader paused, considering the child before turning around. He tipped his head down, empty black gaze meeting her determined stare. He knew exactly what she was talking about, but he wasn’t about to let the interloper off easily. “Show me,” He demanded, hands clasping behind him.

“I don’t know if I can-,” Leia began, but he cut her off.

“There is no try,” He said. “Show me.”

The little girl took a deep breath, her eyes shifting over his shoulder. “I can make things move that aren’t supposed to. I can make people change their mind when I’m angry. I can break things without touching them.”

“Do not tell me,” His voice growled. “Show me.”

She began to tremble. “I can’t control it-“

“You can.”

Leia took another deep breath and focused her stare behind him. The droid let out a startled whirr as it lifted off the floor. Vader did not have to turn around to sense her action. She was crude, untrained, her focus on the unruly mass of the astromech rather than the Force, but he could feel the power.

She was much too old, much too entrenched in the Organa family to consider taking for the Inquisitors. Yet he also felt something odd- he wanted to keep her for himself. It was a selfish instinct, one he hadn’t bothered succumbing to in years. There was very little use in possession when he was more machine than man. He did not yet know what to make of the emotion.

With a slight grunt, she shakily placed the droid back on its wheels. It promptly beeped at her and raced away.

Vader considered her for a moment longer before speaking. “Why did you come to me?”

Though her hands began to tremble, Leia’s eyes remained focused on Vader’s mask. “Because I may be young, but I’ve heard enough. You can help me.”

If he had been a man, he would have scoffed. Instead, the air forced through his respirator came at a steady pace. “I am many things, but I am not a savior.”

“I’m not asking for a savior!” She said angrily. “I need a teacher.”

“A teacher,” the last syllable fading into a hiss. “I do not think that is wise.”

Her jaw set. He almost heard her teeth grinding. “I know the risks.”

“You are a child. You know nothing.”

“And you are a mediocre tyrant.” The girl spat, frustration playing across her face. Yet her words were measured, deliberate. She was afraid, but she would not take no for an answer.

Her statement lingered in the quiet that followed it.

“I have killed many for much less,” He said, but he was more curious than angry. Her fear peaked, body tensed as if to flee, but her feet remained firmly planted.

“I will teach you,” Vader finally said. “But I wonder… Do you understand that you will be bound to me? You will experience more pain than you can imagine.”

The tremble in her hands reached her eyes. “I understand.”

Something leapt inside the Sith Lord. She would be his and his alone. “So it shall be,” He turned around and began walking away. She followed him.

Leia Organa engulfed his teachings like she was starving. The strange, empty feeling in her gut filled as her awareness of the Force grew and changed. They could not always meet- they would often go weeks, even months, without seeing the other, but Vader was a beacon in her conscious. Even from Alderaan she could feel him, hear him, just as he could feel her. The darkness strengthened her already willful heart. But more than her skill with the Force, which was formidable, she took to lightsaber training with a joy he had only known as Anakin Skywalker.

She progressed quickly, even though their lessons were carefully hidden from her father. The Viceroy didn't need to spend his busy days worrying over her, so she kept her off planet visits brief and to the point. Relief missions were paired with sparring matches in the same system. Force manipulation and diplomatic training were also complimentary, according to Vader, but she shut down his train of thought. She would be the best senator in Alderaanian history on her own merit... Though she wasn’t above suggesting the people she met with forget the curious shadow that occasionally appeared behind her.

He really should have known. The girl was too like him to ignore. Too like her mother in others. Her powers were strong, but held with tactful restraint. She maintained a delicate control on her pain and anger, and instead of using them immediately, indiscriminately lashing out, she acted as both judge and executioner. Weighing her options, she usually took a route that had Vader roiling in impatience. She was too kind, too forgiving to some. Instead she piled her cruelty on those she believed deserved it. Once, after a particularly long day, he found her perched on a speeder pulling the fingernails off a young man she had caught stealing. Still, she had an odd reticence to kill unless she absolutely had to. Once she let him feel what she did when she killed someone, and he his breath was taken away.

It was simultaneously emptying and satisfying. She could feel their tiny signature winking out as if it was a star collapsing. The feeling was addicting, she wanted more of it. The burn, the black hole that followed then filled her with joy. He did not know how she felt it so deeply. Just a simple, insignificant life tore through her veins ecstatically. But he understood her hesitation. Not only did it compromise her, admittedly silly, moral beliefs… she also feared losing herself to the emotion. She loved it, even when she knew she shouldn't. She didn't know if she could live without it.

All this, and Vader remained blinded to her parentage by his own willful ignorance. Every time she wielded a saber, he was struck by an odd emotion. Pride. Joy. Almost familial. She held it with the same dangerous reverence that Skywalker once had. But still he did not see. When she finally built her own, the synthetic Crystal filled with her virulent energy and the blade glowed yellow. It should have been impossible, but not for her. Still he did not see.

It took C3PO waddling into his Compound for Vader to realize the truth. He almost screamed from inside the emotionless mask. His daughter, the daughter he had felt growing in Padme, the daughter who had been stolen from him. She was his. She had found him, joined him, even when he had no idea she had survived. But most importantly, the events that lead to the Emperor controlling him had been based on a lie. Before he could fully control his thoughts, one word slipped out across their bond. Daughter.

That day he told the little Princess to leave Coruscant. He shut her out of their training bond. And she had responded like any good Sith Apprentice. But she wasn't just any Apprentice- She was extraordinary. She was his.

He felt the dismay first, a dark, warm bile rising from the City's gullet. It seeped from the lowest levels, darkening the upper streets. Then came bursts of pain, sudden, loud. He normally ignored such things, especially from areas where the dregs of the galaxy wandered. But the bursts of pain he felt were deliberate, and to his simultaneous pride and horror, patterned to the specific Morse Code used by insurgents during the Trade Federation invasion of Naboo. It was a message sent directly to him through the bodies of others. And all it said was "Daughter."

There he found her, somewhere in Niro's sprawling district, casually breaking the bones of passersby with the Force. Her eyes met his deeply robed form from across the street. They were so dark he could hardly see the pupils. With a breath, he let her back into his head. It was an impulsive decision, but he let her see it all. Padme, the war, Ahsoka, Kenobi, Palpatine, all that had been Anakin Skywalker.

She watched it all, letting it pass at the pace he chose. When he could give no more, she reached a hand out, snapped the neck of a man watching the two of them too closely, and disappeared into the dark street. She shut her end of the bond and did not return.

Darth Vader knew this should have overjoyed him. He was attached to her, not only as his child, but as his apprentice. Her presence had become a crutch, distracting him from his duty to the Emperor. Yet he could not help but feel the gaping wound left in his mind where she had clumsily torn out their bond. At night, sitting in his hyperbaric chamber, he missed his apprentice.

Soon after, she returned to Coruscant permanently, having been elected to the Emperor’s fading Senate. He knew she felt his presence, the presence of the Dark Side, but she carefully ignored him. Soon it became too much for Vader to handle. The young Senator was the drug brutally absent from his veins. Even his Master’s connection to the Force could not satisfy him.

Thus, Vader left, returning to his place on the Imperial Navy’s flagship. He had work to do.


	2. The Son

The first time he saw Luke was on Skywalker’s desolate homeworld, striking blue eyes staring out from behind the rough linens protecting his face.

Vader had come to negotiate with Jabba, an act he had been dreading since his master demanded it of him. He hadn’t been on planet since the Clone Wars, and had very little desire to ever return, but they had intercepted Hutt shipments in the Mid Rim. Vader dearly hoped that the conversation would devolve quickly. What joy it would bring him to have the slimy creature’s fat neck spilling through his hands.

Finally, he thought, as the cruiser pulled into the light of twin suns. But a feeling, a drop of light springing into the void left by his daughter, diverted him from his intended course. 

It was impossible for Leia to have been on planet, and regardless, the light was not hers. Leia’s signature was like razed earth, her brilliant signature scorching, admonishing. But if Leia was a Tatooinian noon, the light he followed was a Nabooian summer. Overwhelmingly warm, almost with a humid force, it flowed through his suit until a strange calmness enveloped him.

He needed to find the source.

The moment his mask took in those eyes, he wished he could turn around and forget what he had seen.

He wished he had been smarter, had just left the forsaken planet alone.

But, _all force_ , those eyes. Darth Vader found himself forgetting that Skywalker was dead. 

The boy gingerly pulled down his headscarf, revealing an unruly mop of sun-bleached hair. “You a trader?” He called out, his Basic fluent, but accented. “I’d remember if I’d seen someone like you.”

Pink around the nose and ears, his hand flew above his eyes, shielding them from the sun, straining to get a better look at the strange being in front of him. Vader let him stare for a moment longer and considered his own options carefully.

He wanted the boy. That much was certain, but unlike Leia, he did not have the patience or resources to believe that a farm brat from the outer rim would seek him out in his own time.

Second, it was clear the boy was alone. The stitches on his clothes were messy and childlike. The speeder was tarnished, but cared for, so the oil staining the boy’s gloves were an indication of him working on the thing himself.

He could just take him. It was not unprecedented, though a teenager would probably cause more trouble than the typical toddler. Somehow, Vader found himself pacing closer to the quiet building, reaching out, and drinking in the emotions the boy was unconsciously putting into the Force.

It couldn’t have been a coincidence that the homestead was one he instantly recognized- one that had plagued him for years. The Force was rarely that careless.

He knew Shmi Skywalker was buried just outside of his line of sight. There were a couple more gravestones to the left of hers, the last one barely curving into view. The boy was the only life form, though he felt traces of another. Something familiar…

Vader’s breath drew at a steady, languid pace. The sand was already beginning to creep into the joints of his suit, though he had done his best to cover the most delicate mechanisms with fine layers of black cloth, giving him more of the appearance of an over-sized Jawa than anything humanoid.

“I require a place to stay for the night. I will be on my way in the morning.” He said, the vocoder rasping slightly.

The boy stared at him for a few more moments, then shrugged, going back to tinkering with the rusty speeder. “The power converters will have to wait, I guess,” He muttered to himself, but Vader overheard it. The boy was petulant. Whether that would be easy to mold to the dark side was yet to be seen.  Leia had also been stubborn, but her frustration and ambition had been easy to shape- at least until he lost her.

After another second, the boy sprung up, took off his greasy gloves and put a hand forward.

“My name’s Luke.”

Vader looked dismissively at the proffered hand, but reached to clasp it anyway. There was no use in antagonizing the boy when the goal was to take him.

“Luke Skywalker.”

Only years of training and an artificial breathing system kept the Sith Lord from physical reaction. The Force, however, began to darken around him, something that the boy clearly felt as he pulled his hand away, shock lining his young features.

He almost convinced himself to leave. Almost turned his ship towards the Emperor and blasted Coruscant from the sky.

None of that would have helped the fact there was a fifteen-year-old boy, with eyes brighter than a clear day, who felt like Naboo, staring up at him somewhere between fascinated and afraid.

“What just happened?” Luke asked, eyes wide. Vader’s dark energy filled the Force around them.

He did not answer right away, but walked toward the home’s open door. Once there, he turned to the child that was trailing him and said. “I knew your father.”

It wasn’t a lie. Not really. Vader was not Anakin Skywalker; It was his mantra as he fitfully dreamed of his Master, of his long dead wife, his former apprentice, and more recently his daughter.

Vader was not Anakin Skywalker.

Luke clearly did not sense the lie, but inched closer, eyes wider than before. “You did? A lot of off worlders seem to say that, but most of them really just saw the holos. We never got them here. But Old Ben tells me about him sometimes. He seemed like a great hero. I’m gonna be like him, a hero and a pilot!”

The child’s eagerness was disconcerting. Vader shifted away from him, entering the small dome.

“He was this and more. Did this… Old Ben… tell you many stories?”

Luke’s lips pursed. “Not really. After my aunt and uncle died, he started dropping in and looking out for me, but he’s quiet. He always seems a little sad, so I usually have to wait until he offers. They're mostly about how Father was a great pilot who fought in the Clone Wars.”

“Ah, so he did not tell you the truth.”

“What truth?” The boy was confused, riveted.

“Your father was a Jedi.”

With these words, Vader felt the shift. The boy was his. The original plan had been to spend as many days as necessary conversing with Jabba, but now he probably had less than a full sun cycle to convince the boy to leave with him. He was more worried about the man Luke called Old Ben than the sleemo Hutt.

After Luke had named him, Vader felt the presence in the air clearly- Kenobi. His master, the one he had searched for for years, right under his nose. Yet discovering Luke had changed his priorities. Luke. His son. It almost seemed too much to hope for.

Twins.

He had twins.

It took everything he had not to let his turbulent mental state stain the warm brightness that surrounded Luke. The evening crept towards them, the suns growing redder in Tatooine’s dust until they passed below the horizon. Vader did not talk much as a rule, it taxed his artificial system, but deigned it necessary to enrapture the boy with stories of the galaxy. The incredible wonder, beauty, and even its cruelty. Luke responded with volatility to the last type- he jumped to his feet, proclaiming that if his father had been a Jedi, he’d be a Jedi too and protect those who could not protect themselves. Vader did not disavow him of his romantic notion. He would teach the boy that the Jedi had been too corrupt to survive, but Luke was not ready to hear it.

By the morning, Luke had thrown his meager belongings into a rough cloth bag, left a note on the counter for Old Ben, said goodbye to the four graves out back, and was ready to go. Over the next days, Vader took rare pleasure in watching the boy as he experienced life on the destroyer. Leia had been long hardened by such sights- a royal child of the core- and had come to him with a specific goal. Luke, on the other hand, took incredible joy in things Vader and Leia merely passed by for most of their lives. Seeing a star destroyer for the first time. Witnessing the Stormtroopers drilling in the hangar bay. The TIE fighters. The planets they stopped at on their long trek back to the core.

When his negotiations with Jabba were overdue, Vader sent a message to his Master. He feared the repercussions, but could not undo what had already been done.

“Forgive me, Master. The primary mission on Tatooine was not accomplished.” He rasped into the comm, “The Hutts were sent warnings, but no negotiations were attempted. The secondary mission, collecting Force sensitives for the benefit of the Empire, was successful. A human boy with high Force sensitivity was recovered. I will educate him before leaving him with the Inquisitors.”

Less than a day later, Vader received his response.

“Lord Vader. Your actions have disappointed me. It seems you cannot be trusted to act without proper encouragement. Return to Coruscant immediately, so I may reassess your position. The recovered asset, you may do what you please with.”

There was a long pause in the hologram, the Emperor’s mouth curving upward in an unpleasant approximation of a smile.

“As for your apprentice- she has grown stronger in your absence, Lord Vader. She has begun to speak out against me, adding strength to what my intelligence tells me is the fledgling rebellion. Control your pupil, my apprentice. We cannot afford to have a Sith, even a poorly trained one, stray from my vision.”

Vader remained in his sparse chamber long after the comm had gone dark.       

He fought down the pride that was his initial reaction. His apprentice was growing strong enough that Palpatine noticed her. It was both an incredible feat and deeply unsettling. He should have expected no less from the girl. Maul and Ventress had both proven that Sith could exist outside the rule of two, though not without incredible sacrifice, and now his own child was making her way as well.

Unfortunately, Palpatine was not going to let it happen. A Sith on the side of the rebellion would be disastrous to his reign. The pride that had swelled in him quickly darkened. If he did not bring Leia back into his control, Sidious would dispose of her. How he was going to do this, he did not know, but he was not going to let his apprentice go so easily. 

“Lord Vader,” A protocol droid appeared in the now-open doorway. “There is a boy looking for you. I told him that he would have to go through the proper channels, rather than coming straight to-”

“That will not be necessary, 4GH. Luke Skywalker is to be given clearance for the living quarters and the bridge, if he hasn’t already.” He thought for a moment. “And droid maintenance and repair. We do not want him becoming bored, but I hesitate to give him clearance for the hangar.” Now that he was not distracted by thoughts of his master, he could feel the boy’s presence hovering around the corner.  

“Yes, sir,” The bug-like droid waddled away and moments later, a sandy mop of hair replaced it.

“May I come in?”

“You already have.”

The boy had the good sense to look bashful.

Vader stood from his chair. “I know you heard, so I won’t insult your intelligence. You have freedom to move about the floor with the living quarters, the bridge on occasion, and unlimited access to the repair center. You are allowed to help fix them, or just use spare parts, as long as you remain out of the way. You are not, however, allowed near the ships.

“Lastly, I will often be too busy to attend to you, but I wish to begin your training in the Force. You will have supervised access to a training room on board.”

Luke, who looked like he was about to argue about being away from the hangar, suddenly blinked, a blank expression coming over his features.

“Training in the Force?” The words were almost whispered, worshipful.

Vader gave him a small nod.

“The Force is strong in you, as it was in your father.”

\--

Luke proved to be a challenge in ways that Leia had not. He had anger, pain, loneliness, as any fifteen-year-old orphan would. But whenever he tried to pull from those emotions, the Force turned lifeless and heavy around him. He found no power there. Darth Vader could not understand it. The boy’s presence was comparable to Leia’s, and he was clearly much more in tune with the living Force based on the sheer energy he emitted without thinking. Yet as much as Luke tried, he did not progress in any meaningful way.

_Try the light._

There was a traitor in his head. A creature, too mutilated to give a name, whispered to him.

_Try the light._

It was impossible. It had never been done.

_Not for you. For him._

No.

One standard day from Coruscant, Darth Vader found Luke in his room, balancing a small droid on his head, the droid beeping loudly, almost pleased, and the boy laughing.

_Try the light._

Luke saw him and startled, the droid having been precariously settled, tumbling to the ground. Vader caught it with ease. It let out a string of unhappy beeps, and attempted to roll away, but Vader lifted it back towards the boy.

“Lift it.”

“Uhhhh…”

“Can you not?”

The boy shifted nervously, but reached out a hand and the droid dropped to the floor, a weak vibration the only indication that there was anything happening.

_Try the light._

“Clear your mind. Let go of your fear.”

“But you told me to embrace my- “

“I know what I said. Listen to me now.”

Luke took a deep breath, attempting to relax. The med droid began to rise higher, whistling in concern.

“Good. Now reach out, lift the workbench.”

“Lord Vader, that’s way too-”

“Lift it.”

Vader observed as the boy’s muscles tightened, as if he was lifting the cumbersome metal bench himself, but slowly, incrementally, it lifted off the floor. With all his promise, the boy hadn’t been able to lift a fork in the previous days. Now, he was simultaneously controlling the droid, who admittedly had sagged in the air, and the table, as low as it was. Even with the exertion, the boy’s face had become calm, taking on an entirely different quality. The force was springing to life around him.

No.

This was not right.

Overwhelmed, Vader turned on his heel and exited the room, the door slamming behind him. The boy startled, the light side of the force becoming engulfed by the dark energy radiating off the Sith Lord.

There was a traitor in his head, screaming behind bars. He wanted to gasp, to take in the air that had been knocked out by his son. His son, Luke Skywalker, whose skin glowed with the light side of the Force. His son, who knew Obi-Wan Kenobi better than his own father.

_Your son is a Jedi._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have quite a bit of the story planned and written, but the whole thing used to be a 2500 word meta, so there's quite a few things that need to be fleshed out. Hopefully I'll be updating every 2 weeks (give or take a few days). 
> 
> Next up: The Force knows exactly what it wants, though the Family doesn't always agree.


	3. In Orbit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Children of the Father spin ever closer, waiting for the moment of collision

Princess Leia Organa was fifteen years old and full of secrets.

She should have been flattered when the Emperor nominated her at the end of her Father’s last term. A self-important few contested the nomination due to her age, but Palpatine always got what he wanted. Even Bail, reasonably afraid for his child, could not have spoken against it.  But Leia knew the senate was a dying animal, its final breaths ugly and laborious. They voted and strategized, but nothing they did was ever enacted. Being a senator in that time meant no more than clapping politely and showing support for the Emperor’s declarations.  

Leia would never settle for such small reward.

Her days were filled with comms and petitions, calls to Alderaan, and meetings with coalition members. Most of these were social engagements, yet carefully spread throughout, messages were passed. A coordinate hastily seen and burned. Outer rim credits, not accepted by any self-respecting Coruscanti, changed hands with ample promise they were traceable to only the most unsavoury of thugs. Rumors, hints of suspicious activity, random acts of kindness, discussed, to be followed up on _at their earliest convenience._

For the good of the Empire, of course.

Yet even in the midst of it all, Leia longed for the sweet decent of night. Meticulously robed, body and face hidden, she descended to the lower levels of the sleepless capital. The deeper she went, the angrier and uglier the city became and she drank it in.

She didn’t just pretend to be good- she _was_ good. Wasn’t she? The question plagued her as she breathed in anguish and released joy. She was working to dismantle the Empire. She wanted the galaxy to be free from tyranny, free from slavery. The galaxy was at war and cruelty was a part of that reality.

Still she wondered. She wondered as she slid a knife over the throat of a Zabrak male, sent a blaster bolt into the chest of a Rodian woman. They had done things that justified their deaths. Rape, murder, trafficking for Palpatine. And she was careful when she killed them, no lightsabers, and certainly no force choking. It would be too conspicuous.

They all deserved it. The Force sung to her and she responded. It knew what it wanted and she was happy to oblige. 

\----

Luke Skywalker was fifteen years old and full of secrets.

People tended to underestimate him, seeing his extremely young face and sensing the genuine wonder with which he viewed the world. Harmless, they said, shaking their heads as he wandered every forbidden hallway. Naïve, others whispered, when he finally made it to the hangar bay and the incredible TIEs lining the walls. Silly, another would sigh, before showing him the controls of the infamous ships.

Just like that, Luke had ingratiated himself with the engineers roaming the corridors, almost forgetting about Vader’s strange actions. Two nights prior, Luke woke up with a jolt, his new awareness of the Force informing him that something was amiss. He assured himself that there was nothing in his room, slowly closing his eyes and wrapping the blanket around him tightly willing away the chill from the metal walls…

Metal.

His eyes sprung open once again, hands clutching at the hollow beneath his throat. The chain that hung there was gone. The little bird that his aunt had soldered from scrap metal was nowhere to be found, even as he ran his hands through the sheets of his bed.

It had been one of her favourite past times, creating small wonders from whatever extra pieces fell off the aging farm equipment. He didn’t know how long she had been making them, but every once in a while, she had taken orders from others in the area, provided they brought their own materials. Tattoine had been a small planet, full of hardships, but even there people knew beauty.

The round bird, with a long thin tail gently curled around its feet, had been the only thing he found after returning from visiting his friends at Tosche station. Everything else had been decimated in the fire that left the walls and bones of his family charred. He had sat there for hours, the afternoon suns drying his tears before they even had a chance to escape his eyes. Then, not knowing what else to do, he began to clear the house of what was left. The sand people had been thorough, taking anything that could be salvaged before torching the scene of their crime. But they had missed the small bird on a simple, delicate chain, buried deep in the rubble of what had been Beru’s chest.

He couldn’t prove it had been them, but who else showed so little mercy, so little regard for the farmers?

The suns had long since set when he finally stopped, the cold from the desert night making his fingers shake. That was the first night that Ben had stayed with him. He had vague memories of the old hermit from when he was younger, but it had been years since the grey haired man had come to the homestead. Luke didn’t know how Old Ben had known he needed him. Perhaps it had something to do with the Force…

But now, the bird was gone, and even after his third time tearing through his meager belongings, it remained nowhere to be found.

In an even stranger turn of events, Vader had disappeared with it. Nevertheless, the Destroyer continued its deliberate trek towards Coruscant without the Sith Lord.

\---

The whispers about Lord Vader’s imminent return had not gone unnoticed by the young Senator. In every day conversation, she claimed ignorance or indifference, perfectly understandable for a girl her age. She hardly could have told them that the ugly remnants of their master-apprentice bond were still pulsing, telling her that he was already in-system. As the air of nervousness grew, the rebel senators wondered if all their hard work would be snuffed out. Leia did not have the same fears- Palpatine was far more powerful than his wayward apprentice, and he had not killed them all, so either he did not know or did not care. She did not know which scenario was more unsettling.

Returning to her quarters in the Imperial Spire, Leia found C3PO pacing back and forth, unusual even for the histrionic droid.

“Princess, I’m so sorry to bother, but I had the strangest item left for me.”

Leia hesitated, closing her eyes to sense the Force in the room and seeing nothing out of the ordinary. “Strange how, Threepio?”

“Well, you see, I cannot scan it or open it on a holopad, but the deliverer assured me it was a message. A message that cannot be opened seems rather absurd to me.”

Leia frowned slightly. It could have been something as simple as a message written on paper, as was favoured by those who wanted to bypass data banks. But C3PO proceeded to hand her a tiny bird made of golden metal, attached to a delicate chain.

Her frown deepening, she reached out to take it.

An image of a boy raced across her eyes. He was laughing, chatting amiably with a medical droid floating just over his shoulder. His face was tanned from sun, the neckline of his rough spun shirt covering hints of pale skin that peeked out as he moved. His face was so boyish, she almost couldn’t reconcile it with the gravity of the Force surrounding him. All Siths, it was so bright and warm, she wanted to inhale it, sink into it like warm sand.

She unconsciously reached out as the picture swam around her. The boy remained, but he was no longer smiling. His eyes were wide with focus and fear as a red beam swung towards him. He ducked and ran, hands loosely wrapped around a saber of his own, but making no move to use it. His movements were agile and sudden, more reminiscent of a Loth Cat than a trained fighter. His hesitation was strange to Leia. Why wouldn’t he use the weapon that had been given to him? He continued to elude the onslaught.

The scene was replaced again, but this time by sand. It was a planet unlike any she had ever seen- absolutely barren except for a few domes cut out against the sky. Two suns were setting at different intervals, making the day oddly bright, but as red as dusk. The boy was there again, younger, smaller, tears streaking his face, the little chain of the metal bird wrapped tightly in his hands. Looking closer at the dome, Leia could see smoke rising from it, and black soot lining the outer walls. It had clearly been burned, but there were no clues for her to discern how or by who. The anguish rolling off the boy was too powerful for her to focus anywhere other than him.

Finally, the swimming sea of sand and smoke was replaced by a creature, clad all in black, holding the bird with a delicacy she believed impossible. The emotion overwhelming Vader was one of longing, deep seated anger, and most surprisingly, the same honesty that had once shocked Leia into running. He didn’t say a word, but she knew she had been summoned.       

She gasped as she was thrown out of the vision. Her hands came up to cover her face and she sank to the floor.

She was vaguely aware of Threepio nervously calling her name, but her mind was still consumed by the aftereffects of the vision and the emotions swirling about her. Lord Vader was on Coruscant and demanding that she to return to him. This was not the same anguish she had left him with months ago, but there was desperation in the demand. He was afraid. Still pressed tightly against her eyes, her hands began to shake. She couldn’t begin to comprehend the magnitude of an event that would be necessary to cause Vader fear.

As Leia sat heavily on her knees, she let Vader’s fear wash over her before collecting it and putting it aside. She could not afford to let it affect her, and there was a much larger question at hand.

The boy.

The boy called to her in a way that Vader did not. As soon as his image appeared before her, she had a double sense of longing and fulfillment. The hole in her soul, the one she had felt since she was cognizant enough to name it, had been numbed by her training in the Force, but still remained hollow, empty. Yet as soon as she saw him, she felt complete.

Slowly, she removed her hands and opened her eyes, seeing the small bird gently perched on the edge of the rug where it had fallen. How he had found the boy was a mystery she had no desire or intention of delving into. What was much more interesting was that Vader had him and was using him as bait for his wayward apprentice. Simply asking her back would have been easy to ignore, but by bringing the boy… He had won. He found the missing part of her soul.

That was not something she could overlook.

Standing gingerly, she assured Threepio that she was alright and would need the speeder ready as soon as possible.

\---

Luke was chatting with one of the engineers in a lower mess hall when he felt the ship pull from hyperspace. There were no window that low in the ship, but Luke was rendered speechless at the feeling that overcame him.

The Force was singing with trillions of life-forms, louder than Luke had ever heard in his life. They had arrived at Coruscant.

Rushing back to his room, he found F1-DA buzzing insistently at the door. The medical droid was Vader’s but it had become rather attached to Luke since his arrival on the Devastator. After quickly scolding him for being away for so long, it told him that Vader had returned to take him to the City.

“I’m coming DeeA! I need to pack!”

This only made the little droid more nervous. Its metal claws whirred out and took hold of Luke’s shirt.

“They’ll bring it for me? You promise?”

The droid clicked its agreement and pulled one more time before letting go and floating backwards down the halls, willing Luke to follow.

DeeA wasn’t the calmest droid in the galaxy, but Luke assumed that came with working for Vader. If there was anything Luke had learned, it was that Vader was a demanding taskmaster; his demeanor could break at any moment. He was often unreasonable, unpredictable and punishing. But unlike how he acted with the navy officers, Vader was never cruel to Luke. There was a buffer, something holding him back from acting on the legendary anger the mechanics and pilots whispered about.

Regardless, Luke wasn’t about to push his luck.

He was breathless when he reached the hangar where Vader stood, black cloak billowing in the wind of the departing Cargo ships and shuttles.

“I was wondering when you would grace me with your presence,” The voice was toneless, but Luke could feel the tension in the words. Apologizing quickly, he followed the other man into the shuttle, its pointed wings already descending in preparation for take-off. Vader wordlessly took the controls and maneuvered towards the surface. Luke spent the duration of the trip chatting with F1-DA, his face pressed to the outside window. The city was incredible: glittering spires, more speeders and buildings and people than he had seen his whole life. All the life forces that had shocked him were still weighing against his consciousness, and as they got closer to the buildings the pressure grew.

“How can anyone stand it?” He groaned quietly, feeling a headache starting behind his eyes.

“Most beings don’t have enough sense to feel it.” Vader responded. Luke’s head spun towards him. He hadn’t actually been expecting an answer.

“Someone of your strength should have been trained to filter out the noise long ago- I suppose you never had the chance or need, being so remote. You will become used to it in a couple days. Until then, center yourself, focus on your immediate surroundings.”

Luke quickly nodded and tried to block out the sound.

“Not like that,” Vader snapped. “There is nothing to be gained from ignoring the force. It will leave you vulnerable, blind to your surroundings. I said center. Gather it around you and _focus_.” The last word was snapped off, Luke sensing the other man’s tension growing as a dark spire came closer, cutting the skyline.

He didn’t know what to make of Vader’s demeanor. It was almost… hopeful? Suddenly all emotion coming from the Sith cut off, leaving an empty space in the shuttle.  It became clear to Luke that the spire was their destination, and emanating from it was a potent darkness. He wanted to shrink away, until he felt it.

Not it.

Her.

\--

Leia swung her saber, its vivid yellow blade cutting through the ancient practice droids. Being away from the complex meant her swordsmanship had suffered considerably. It wasn’t reasonable or safe to practice anywhere other than in the protected courtyards, and she certainly had never been absurd enough to bring the weapon on her night-time missions. 

Instead, her aim with a blaster had far surpassed her saber forms.  So while she had the complex to herself, she tried something new.

Flipping the hilt of her saber in her palm, she entered a deep reverse V stance, the tip pointed behind her, plasma flickering across her vision. It was a form she was comfortable with, even though it caused Vader to mutter tersely about his terrible luck in apprentices.

After seeing his memories, she understood. But she wasn’t Tano. There would be no shoto blade for her.

Instead, she unhooked her blaster and held it in her left hand. It was awkward at first, but she took a few experimental shots. Not accurate enough for her taste, but that was something easily fixed with practice.

She beckoned the droids again, and they marched towards her, shooting stunners at her.

She easily blocked these with her saber, instantaneously shooting at them. When they were close enough, she cut across them, still shooting and hitting them with the hilt of her blaster.

Yes. She thought with a feral grin. This would work just fine for her.

Vader’s style of dueling was too clean, too practiced, and beautiful to watch. It was undoubtedly powerful, each stroke wielding deadly force, but it had never resonated with her.

But this, this was ugly and painful. It was dirty and efficient. Perfectly unseemly for a princess. Her Father had always taught her to protect herself by any means necessary (though he probably hadn’t meant pulling other girl’s pigtails in academy and he certainly hadn’t meant becoming a Sith). The mix of blaster and saber in Form V, though extremely unpracticed and still sloppy, sung to her in a way nothing else did.

Vader would be scandalized.

Good.

With one last swing, she stabbed into a droid behind her and sliced it in half. Sweat was dripping down her face, making the loose hairs in her face stick to her forehead. Still crouched, her eyes widened as she felt a bright light fill the complex.

Him.

It had to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, they finally meet next chapter! I just felt I needed to sort them out in their own POVs first. 
> 
> Happy holiday season to you all.


	4. Collision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been bothering me for months now, and I've been constantly tweaking and worrying and fixing, but this is the happiest I've been, so you finally get it! I know a couple of you mentioned being confused by the bird in the previous chapter and its mentioned again here. The bird is a Convor, and its speculated in Clone Wars/Rebels that its symbol of the Daughter who represents the light side of the force. So Luke has a little metal convor charm that his aunt made. 
> 
> Luke and Leia finally collide and Vader is winning no "Father of the Year" nominations.

Luke watched with apprehension as the hangar doors of the compound closed behind Vader’s transport. This was nothing like the destroyer he had just come from- there there had been life, with multitudes going about their days in every spectrum of the human emotion. _This place_ was steeped in a malignant darkness, threatening to overwhelm him with emotions he could not name. Even the pinpoint of bright light had disappeared into the roiling heat of the Force.

Vader stood from his place at the controls, manipulating the ship’s landing protocols from a distance. “I must return to my master soon. I do not have time to be watching over you.” A heavy hand came to rest on Luke’s shoulder, the only thing keeping him upright. “Breathe, Skywalker.”

Luke swallowed harshly and took a ragged breath. F1-DA whirred over his shoulder, clicking what could only be interpreted as comfort at him.

He was unsure whether the rapid release of air from the masked man could be interpreted as a sigh.

“Is this where I’ll be living?” He asked, after patting DeeA on the head.

“For now. It is safest to have you close by.”

Luke didn’t know how to respond, so rubbed at his eyes instead, willing the heaviness behind them to go away. The transport’s bridge lowered, revealing a large hangar filled with odds and ends of various ships. Luke gaped in wonder, momentarily distracted.

“So nice of you to drop by, Vader.”

The voice lilted from across the room, drawing his eyes to the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Her dress was long and draping, with a hood halfway pulled on top of two carefully spiraled buns. The black material was simple and reflected no light, making her blend into the dimness of the hangar.

“I have business to attend to.” Was he just imagining the strain in Vader’s voice?

“The Emperor pulling your leash, no doubt. I heard your skills as an enforcer have been suffering as of late. Shame.”  

The defiant tilt of her chin startled Luke with its familiarity. He had never seen her before, but he felt as if he recognized her.

“I know you.” The words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them. DeeA gave a high-pitched squeal and tried to pull him back into the transport by his shirt.

The tension in the room spiraled out from her, the darkness nearly suffocating him. From Vader he could only feel blank space, but the empty eyes of the helmet were squarely on him

The girl’s lips tightened into a thin line. She was fighting something, and pointedly ignoring him. “Is this the bribe you brought me, Vader? He’s shorter than the convor told me.”

“He is a student.”

“Inquisitors or my replacement? It’d be a shame to duel him so early.”

“May I speak for myself?” It took everything he had to say those words in the heavy air. His instincts, or the Force, was telling him there was something much bigger than him at play, but Luke couldn’t stand the other people in the room treating him like he was invisible.

He caught a flash of surprise from the girl and a flash of _pride_ from Vader. He didn’t have time to ponder those emotions, as he finally had their attention.

“My name is Luke Skywalker and I’m from Tatooine.” Oh that was definitely surprise from the girl, in fact, she was reeling, seething, her signature in the Force growing until it blinded him. He unconsciously stepped away from her, into DeeA who was still trying to pull him into the ship.

“Skywalker,” Her darkness recoiled, tightening around her, choking her as she gasped out his name.

Vader’s hand lifted off his shoulder and aimed towards the girl. “Calm yourself, my apprentice.”

 _Daughter_. The word floated through Luke’s mind so quickly he thought he imagined it.

Her hand quickly shot up in a defensive gesture, entire face contorted as if in pain. But there was only anger from her, ugly soul consuming anger. It washed over the hangar, blistering hot.  

“What have you brought me, Vader? What trick is this?”

“There is no trick.” Vader’s voice remained its near constant monotone. “He lied to me- to us. You were proof already, but now it is undeniable.”

Luke looked between them, afraid and confused. He should have stayed on Tatooine where he at least understood what he was doing and who the people around him were. His people weren’t these strange creatures.

The wave of homesickness overcame him and he felt tears prickling his eyes.

“What is going on?”

Vader turned to look at him. “I do not have time for this, Luke. I must be going. The Emperor will have felt my return.”

“You’re just going to leave me here?” The pitch of his voice rose.

“She will be here.” He had a feeling this was more a demand for the girl than for him.

“Go run to your Master.” She spat, venom in the muttered words.

_Shit excuse for a father_

Not only was he stranded here with this strange, breathtaking, girl and a pounding headache, now he was hearing things. DeeA nervously circled his head, breaking his concentration.

He should have stayed on Tatooine.

Vader strode to a smaller ship better for making the short in-atmo flight to the Emperor’s Rotunda.

“Please avoid killing each other. I will return shortly.”

“Take your time,” The girl hissed already turning on her heels.

Luke hesitated for a second, head darting between Vader entering the speeder and the girl quickly striding away, before following the girl. The waves of anger coming from her had subsided, but still she burned in the Force. It was easy to track her through the winding hallways, with DeeA whirring close behind.

“Hey! Wait up!”

She did not turn around, but slowed her pace, allowing him to catch up quickly.

“Can you tell me what the heck is going on here?” He pleaded

This close, he finally saw her clearly. She was a touch taller than him, but younger than he expected. Her demeanor had a hardness to it, vastly at odds with the child-like wideness of her face.

“What do you think is going on?” She quipped back roughly. He was momentarily taken aback, but felt none of the blistering hatred she had just been emanating.   

Luke threw his hands up. “I have no idea! Five weeks ago I was keeping the farm together and suddenly Vader shows up telling me my dad was a Jedi and offering to teach me and at the time I think, hey not a bad idea, it’ll get me off this thankless rock, which I’m now regretting, by the way. Then as soon as I get here I see you, you yell at Vader, which is insane because I literally just saw him force choke someone last week, and not only that, I have no idea who you are but the Force is telling me I _know you_ and you flipped out when you heard my name which was terrifying on so many levels. That’s where I am and it’d be awesome if you could fill in the blanks for me, because I am so lost.”

They had stopped walking during his outburst, her eyes scanning his face. She seemed to be fighting herself, and she didn’t speak a word. Luke decided to break the awkward silence himself, “Can you at least tell me your name?”

Her eyes widened “You would have no reason to know, would you?” The entire feeling of the space changed, the Force lifting around them. “My name is Princess Leia Organa from the planet Alderaan. I am currently serving my people in the Imperial Senate. Just call me Leia, no titles here.” She extended her hand.

Luke stared at the proffered hand for a moment, then asked, “Am I supposed to kiss it? I think I’ve seen that in holos.”

She almost smiled, the corners of her lips twitching upward. “No, no, just a handshake. I have a feeling we’ll be spending a lot of time around each other.”

“Oh okay,” He tried his best to smile back, taking her hand and giving it a firm shake. He was surprised her hands were rough, nails trimmed short.

She looked down when she noticed the attention. “Lightsaber training was tough for me. I thought my mother was going to have a heart attack when she started seeing the burns and calluses. But she came around when I said it was for self-defense.”

“I don’t think I’ll have that problem,” Luke said, flexing his hands subconsciously. “I’ve been working the farm since I was old enough to hold a wrench. If anything, the lightsaber is far too finicky compared to what I’m used to.”

“I suppose so.” She began walking again, throwing his attempt at conversation aside. For supposedly being a princess and a senator, she was incredibly awkward. First, she threatened Vader, freaked out at him, then her demeanor switched so completely that the entire complex’s energy changed. Sure, the darkness was still there, lingering under his skin, but her moods changed the bubble of air around them. It was both terrifying and impressive. She didn’t seem inclined to talk, either. A few hallways later, Luke remembered something from the hangar.

“Leia?”

“Yes?”

“How did you know I was coming? You said the convor told you, but I’ve never met a convor.”

Her brow furrowed. “The convor is the bird Vader left for me. I have it in your room.”

That really didn’t answer anything. Bird? Maybe she meant Aunt Beru’s strange metal owl, but it had been lost on the ship. That was ignoring the fact inanimate objects couldn’t talk. Luke sighed and rubbed his eyes. The planet was getting to him. He didn’t know how people could think straight.

Eventually, they reached a large metal door embedded in the wall. She stopped there and extended her hands to it, a creak filling the hallway as the Force swung the door open.

“I set this up for you last week once I knew you were coming. Vader hasn’t had to think about human necessity in a long time, so I assumed he didn’t think this far ahead.”

Inside, the room was simple, bordering on austere. Unlike the dark metallic hallways they had passed through, it had been recently painted a buff brown, warm and inviting.

“Oh,” Luke couldn’t help the exhalation. F1-DA buzzed in, pushing past his head and beeping a running commentary on all the furniture.

“It’s not much, but I thought the color would remind you of home. It’s also close enough to sand that Vader might leave you alone.”

Luke glanced at Leia, her black hood partially obscuring her face. Another strange comment, but those seemed to be rampant with the Princess. She strode over to the bedside table and picked up something small before depositing it in his hands.

Aunt Beru’s bird. Vader _had_ taken it! He gently stroked the engraved feathers.

“You called it a convor? I’ve never seen anything like it, so I always assumed Aunt Beru made it from her imagination.”

Leia shook her head. “No, they’re very real. There used to be one living somewhere in the compound, but it disappeared. I’ve never seen another one on Coruscant, so it was probably someone’s exotic pet.” She shrugged and turned towards the door. “I’m going back to the training yard. Join me if you like.”

She barely had one foot out of the door when she gasped, clutching at her chest and Luke’s whole conscious went black.  

 

* * *

 

Leia had fully intended on keeping control. There was nothing to be gained from losing composure in any situation and she prided herself on her level head. Even on the darkest day of her life, when Vader had revealed himself to her, she had taken the information, cut her loses, and returned to her duties.

Oh, but nothing she could have done would have prepared her for this.

Skywalker.

Skywalker.

There was someone in the universe with the audacity to not only use that name, but proclaim it with prideful ignorance. How did this boy, this _tool_ , not see her Master was using him? It couldn’t be. He couldn’t be who he claimed.

“Skywalker,” She spat with difficulty, letting the darkness in the room engulf her, strengthening her fear and anger.

She felt the Force move well before she saw Vader’s hand raise and she fought back against it. There was no way her _Father_ had brought her who he claimed. No No No.

_Calm, Daughter_

_You’re a liar! I hate you!_

Her emotions screeched across their training bond, strengthened through proximity.

_It’s true. He was there. Home._

Home? Home was Alderaan in its regal blues and greys, icy lakes laying still at the base of the mountains. But Vader was not talking about her home. He was talking about the Skywalker’s.

Rolling seas of sand, stretching for miles, equipment and slaves pulling moisture from whatever source they could find. She could almost see a grave set near a low dome, hot sun bleaching away the letters lovingly carved into the stone.

Skywalker.  

_No it must be another lie._

_Use the Force, Leia. You will feel its truth._

She wanted to scream, to rage, to throw him out of her mind, but he was right. The Force was singing in this boy and from the moment she had felt his presence, all she wanted was to be near him.  

This boy.

Luke.

Her brother.

No no no no no no

She vaguely heard Vader speaking to Luke over the din in her head. Of course, he was leaving the boy here with her. It was all he was good for- lying, killing, leaving. He was weak compared to her. He always ran away whenever things got difficult.

 _You shit excuse for a Father_.

There was no response from the Sith Lord as he strode towards his ship.

She needed to leave, now.

Turning rapidly, she fled from the room, barely feeling Luke’s presence behind her. How could they have been tricked like this? This boy, this bait, had walked into their lives not realizing the turmoil he would cause.

As Vader’s presence in the Force diminished, Leia felt herself regaining some level of composure. She would have to tell Luke who he was… but how?

“Hey! Wait up!”

She slowed her pace to a gentle walk, letting him catch up with her. As he got closer, she could feel what she hadn’t before. He was clear as a summer lake, reflecting and revealing all at once. His entire spirit filled the Force with an emotion she could only name as “light.” How could Vader have been so selfish to bring him here? Even in this place, angry and scared and confused as he had every right to be, he radiated clarity.

He was just a boy. Shorter than her. Young. Sandy hair shaggy and limbs too gangly for his rapidly growing body. Now that she thought about it, when was the last time she had been with anyone even close to her own age? It had been nearly a year since she had visited her friends from the Academy, and even then, she had usually preferred the company of her parents and advisors. She had spent more time with _Vader_ in the past three years than people her own age.

“Can you tell me what is going on here?”

His voice and eyes were pleading. This was as good a chance as any to learn what he knew and didn’t. After she gave her reply, he launched into an explanation that had her barely following along until he hit the word Jedi.

Vader had told him he could train as a Jedi.

That explained the fact she could feel nothing of the dark side in him. He wasn’t here to be trained by the Inquisitors or as her replacement. He wanted to be a Jedi. A light-side user.

The thought was so preposterous she would have laughed if it didn’t terrify her so deeply.

“Can you at least tell me your name?”

For a moment, she was startled. “You would have no reason to know, would you?” She said. That confirmed it. He had been told nothing and it was up to her to break the news. As she introduced herself, the word sister sat on her tongue, heavy and unmoving.

She couldn’t tell him- not yet. He may try to run and she was compelled to keep him here, away from the malicious city and the Emperor who would surely try to kill him. An ember grew in her chest, filling the Force around her. She would keep him safe, even if she couldn’t tell him who he was.

After shaking his hand, she became consumed by her own thoughts. It didn’t matter that Vader had essentially brought him as bait for her, now he was here and he was hers. She would even protect him from Vader if necessary. When she looked at him all she could see was the bright blue of Alderaan’s sky and she would be damned if anyone took that away from her.

 

* * *

 

Vader knew pain.

It was his constant companion, accompanying every laboring breath. It reminded him that despite everything, he was still alive. Sometimes this was good news. Other times, he would have been happier dead.

Vader knew pain from the hands of enemies, brothers, and lovers. He knew the pain he created for himself from memories of another life. He knew pain as his precious daughter swung her lightsaber a little too carelessly and left burns across her arms. He knew pain as his withered heart constricted at the sight of Skywalker’s home, his son staring at him without recognition.

Sometimes he lived with the dull ache of pain for so long, he forgot it could affect him.

His Master always proved him wrong.

What Sidious imparted on his errant pupil was not pain- it was agony. He never felt so human as when the old man took him apart, reminding him of the taste of blood in his throat, the wetness of tears streaming down his face.

Usually it was hard to tell whether it was punishment or pleasure that drove his Master.

That evening, there was no question: it was punishment, raw and ugly. He had failed completely in his mission to control the Hutts. He had let his apprentice run rampant through the Imperial City. He had let her join the rebellion. He was a failure, useless to his master on his current path. He must be cleansed and set on a new course.

His life support cut in and out as electricity raced along his suit. He couldn’t remember the last full breath he had drawn and his whole body constricted from lack of oxygen.

There was only one thought, half formed and fleeting, hidden in the pain.

Sidious did not know about Luke.

He would do everything in his power to make sure it stayed that way.  

**Author's Note:**

> Pairings, characters, and tags/warnings will be updated as the fic goes on.


End file.
